Visakhapatnam: A peculiar incident occurred in Visakhapatnam, where a man accidentally swallowed his dental set in his sleep, leading to it getting lodged in his lungs.
A 52-year-old employee from Visakhapatnam had received a fixed dental set about two to three years ago.
Despite being designed to stay in place permanently, such sets can sometimes come loose.
While he was sleeping, the dental set came off and, unknowingly, he swallowed it. It traveled to his right lung and got stuck in the middle section, KIMS ICON hospital said in a release here on Sunday.
Dr. C.H. Bharat, a consultant interventional pulmonologist at KIMS ICON Hospital, while explaining the situation said “Since the left lung was functioning fully and the upper and lower portions of the right lung were still active, the patient did not experience major breathing issues.
However, the foreign object in the lung caused severe coughing, prompting the patient to seek medical attention.
After an X-ray and a CT scan, it was confirmed that the dental set was lodged in the right lung, he said.
Under general anesthesia, we carefully removed it using a rigid bronchoscope. Since the dental set had metal components on both sides, there was a risk of injury to the lungs or airways during removal, which could cause bleeding.
Fortunately, the removal was mostly smooth, and only a minor injury occurred near the oral cavity, which was immediately treated, the pulmonologist said.
Dr Bharat emphasized the importance of proper maintenance of such dental appliances: “Medical devices or objects placed inside the body have a certain lifespan and may degrade over time.
If such objects are accidentally swallowed and remain inside the body for an extended period, they may cause complications like infections or tissue growth around the object, he added.